It links genes to experimentally verified functional information on disease progression in the host using data from PHI-base, a curated resource that describes interactions between pathogens and their hosts as well as the intervention targets of commercially used anti-infective chemistries.

PhytoPath helps researchers make the most of the vast quantities of data produced in sequencing experiments, for example genomes, gene expression and sequence variation, by integrating them with curated information about infectious phenotypes.

PhytoPath also provides several analysis tools to help researchers compare predicted gene repertoires of pathogens with similar (or dissimilar) lifestyles.

Just as the 1000 Genomes Project is critical for understanding variation in human populations, studies of population-scale variation are increasingly critical to the molecular dissection of plant disease.

Insights from these studies will make it easier for researchers to divine the origins of crop diseases and devise new strategies to control them.

PhytoPath contains the genomes of many devastating pathogens, including Phytophthora infestans, which brought on the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th Century and has re-emerged as an important biotic threat to global food security.

Also included are the genomes of several cereal fungal pathogens that regularly lower global grain production by between 15 and 30%: Magnaporthe oryzae (rice and wheat blast), Puccinia graminis and P. triticina (the rusts), Blumeria graminis (powdery mildew), the wheat leaf-infecting pathogen Septoria tricitici (Mycosphaerella graminicola) and Fusarium graminearum (Gibberella zeae), a fungus which produces mycotoxins that are harmful to human and animal health.

PhytoPath also provides enhanced searching of the PHI-base resource as well as the fungi and protists in Ensembl Genomes.

To keep pace with the growing body of information in the scientific literature, a new community curation initiative will be launched in 2012.

Developed with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), PhytoPath is a collaboration between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Rothamsted Research in the UK.

PHI-base has been given National Capability status by BBSRC for its part in helping the UK deliver world-leading environmental research.

Access to this exclusive content is for Technology Networks Premium members only.

Join Technology Networks Premium for free access to:

Exclusive articles

Presentations from international conferences

Over 2,400+ scientific posters on ePosters

More than 3,700+ scientific videos on LabTube

35 community eNewsletters

Sign In

Forgotten your details? Click Here
If you are not a member you can join here

*Please note: By logging into TechnologyNetworks.com you agree to accept the use of cookies. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.